Forced
by JPsmiles
Summary: Face is acting strange...what is he hiding?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Forced

Warnings: Face h/c; (mention of rape…but nothing graphic)

"Hey Faceman, ain't that the chick you was out wit the other night?"

Face's hand instinctively went to the scratch on his cheek as he looked in the direction B.A. was pointing. "Um, yeah," he replied nervously. "Do me a favor and finish up here, B.A.?"

Before B.A. had a chance to respond, Face was already half-running toward the door. "Anything to get outta a little work," he muttered, pushing the shopping cart toward the register.

Face stepped out into the sunlight and leaned heavily against the brick facade of the store. Closing his eyes, he tried to get his breathing under control and stop the trembling of his limbs.

"Where's B.A.?" Murdock asked from behind him.

Face jumped and spun around. "Don't sneak up on me like that ever again," he snapped.

Murdock was about to come back with a witty comment, but then he noticed the pale color of his friend and the wild look in his eyes. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just needed some air. I'm fine," he lied. He was anything but fine.

They started walking toward the van. Out of the corner of his eye, Face saw the stunning blonde heading toward her car in the parking lot. "Hey, isn't that..." Murdock started, before Face cut him off.

"Yeah, it is. Listen, Murdock, I'm not feeling so good. Would you mind helping B.A. load the van?"

Murdock gave Face a concerned look; it wasn't like Face to admit he wasn't feeling well. "Sure, why don't you go sit in the van?"

Face smiled weakly. "Thanks."

A few minutes and a few threats from B.A. on Murdock's life later, and they were on the road. Face sat in his usual seat, while Murdock and B.A. occupied the front. Face had his eyes closed and was leaning his head against the cool glass. His body ached and he felt dizzy and weak.

"You doing okay, Muchacho?" Murdock asked.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired."

"Man, that lady really did a number on you, didn't she?" B.A. asked.

Face's eyes flew open. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at you, man. You came home from that date all beat up lookin' and now you can barely keep your eyes open!"

"She must have been something else," Murdock added with a wink.

"You can say that," Face said softly, looking down into his lap.

"You needed some recovery time before hookin' up with her again?" B.A. teased.

''I hope I never see her again,' Face thought, but kept silent.

"Face's playing hard to get. Smooth...real smooth."

"He ain't just playin' hard to get...he just about ran away from her in the store. That's more like impossible to get."

"Can we please talk about something else!" Face exploded.

"Relax. We just messin' wit' you man. We don't expect no details."

"Not that we would object if a few happened to slip out," Murdock joked.

Face groaned and shook his head. They didn't want the details. If they knew what went down on Saturday night they would never look at him in the same way again.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

Face helped carry in a couple of bags of groceries into the lake front cabin they were staying at, and then headed straight for the shower.

"What's up with Face," Hannibal asked.

"Beats me," B.A. shrugged. "We was in the store when we saw that lady he been all into. He got all weird like and took off."

"Yup, same thing happened in the parking lot," Murdock nodded. "He saw her then said he wasn't feeling too good. Maybe he's just getting sick. You know how weird Face gets when he's sick."

Hannibal looked thoughtful. "Yeah, maybe."

"What you thinkin', Hannibal?"

"Something's not right. Did you see Face when he came home the other night? He looked like he had been in a fight. He has barely said two words to any of us, and he is way too jumpy."

There was an awkward silence before Murdock asked, "what are you getting at, Colonel?"

"Maybe things got out of control on his date…" Hannibal's voice trailed off; he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Nah, man. Faceman would never do nothin' like that."

"No way, Jose," Murdock agreed.

"Normally I wouldn't think so either. But after what you told me about what happened at the store today and how he reacted to seeing his date again, it looks like he is covering something up."

The three men stood in the kitchen, each lost in their own thoughts about the situation and trying to come up with other possibilities for what they had witnessed over the last 48 hours. One thing was for sure…whatever happened, it wasn't good.

* * *

><p>Face stepped out of the shower and gingerly dried his battered body with a towel. He was clean, but he still felt so dirty.<p>

He looked down at the deep scratches and bruises that covered his chest and stomach and felt sick.

He kept hearing the voices in his head: "No, please stop." "No…don't…no."

He felt her nails digging into his chest; her fists pounding into his ribs.

There was a knock on the door and then Hannibal's voice. "Face, I want to talk to you."

Face carefully put on his button-down shirt, wincing as the fabric rubbed against his raw skin. "Just a minute," he yelled at the door. He gave himself a once-over in the mirror to make sure as much was covered as possible and then opened the door to face the music.

"Sit down, Lieutenant," Hannibal ordered. He thought that by reverting to military mode it might be easier for him to say what he was about to say.

"I think I'll stand." Face paused before following suit and adding, "Colonel."

"You have been acting odd for a couple of days now. What exactly happened on your date the other night?"

"Excuse me?" Face replied incredulously; he hadn't expected that at all.

"You heard me."

"Oh, I heard you," he seethed, "but I sure as hell hope you don't expect an answer." All he wanted to do was forget, but how could he forget when he kept being reminded?

There was a sneeze from out in the hallway followed by a muffled "shut-up, fool!".

"Oh great, the gangs all here," Face said sarcastically pulling the door open to find the duo crouched down on the ground. "You might as well come in." Murdock and B.A. stood up and sheepishly entered the room and stood behind Hannibal. "What goes on in my personal life is just that…personal. As in none of your business."

"It becomes my business when it effects the way one of my team members performs on the job. I heard about what happened today at the store."

Face glared past Hannibal at Murdock and B.A. "We weren't on the job, Hannibal, we were getting groceries."

"Correction, Face. Murdock and B.A. were getting groceries, while you were hiding from a girl. A girl who you went out with and haven't been the same since."

Face turned bright red. "I don't need to explain myself to you, but if it will get you three off my back I will. It got a little rough the other night…and that's not my thing. I don't plan on going out with her again and was trying to avoid a scene."

"I'm going to cut to the chase: did you force her?"

Face felt as if he had been punched in the gut. A lump rose into his throat and his eyes were growing moist. If he didn't get out of there, he knew he was going to explode or, worse yet, cry. And Templeton Peck didn't cry. He turned and stormed from the room, leaving his three friends to make their own conclusions.

Hannibal sat down on the bed and ran his hand through his hair. "That went well."

"He didn't admit to anything," Murdock said.

"Yeah, but he didn't deny nothin' either. We in the same position we was in earlier."

"Wrong, B.A.," Hannibal sighed. "Now we have one very angry Faceman."

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

Face wasn't angry as he travelled down the stairs and out the front door; Face was beside himself.

The voices in his head following him all the way down the hill to the lake front. "No!" "Stop!" "Please." He kneeled before the water and put his head in his hands.

He heard them walking toward him; B.A.'s gold announcing their arrival. Face began to unbutton his shirt. The asked him a question, and now he would show them the answer.

He stood and faced his friends, letting his shirt hang open revealing the damage that had been done. "You want to know what happened on my date, well take a good look."

Hannibal, Murdock and B.A. stared at Face in horror. Deep scratches, bite-marks and dark bruises covered his torso. But Face could also see fear in their eyes; fear of finding out what he had done. And that's what made it hurt twice as badly.

"Not too pretty, is it?" he asked sadly, looking down at himself. "It seems the more I said 'no' the angrier she got." Face looked back up at the men before him. "So, to answer your question, no, **_I_** didn't force her." He started to shake slightly as he added, "**_she_** forced me."

Face started walking back up toward the cabin. He turned his head back and said, "Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"

Nobody said a word; they just hung their heads in shame and waited until he was out of earshot.

"What have we done?" Hannibal asked.

"We messed up bad this time, Hannibal," B.A. said.

"It's like we violated him all over again." Murdock threw his cap to the ground in disgust. "We're supposed to be his family…how could we do that to him? "

"What we gonna do now?"

"We're going to help him through this the best way we can." Hannibal watched the door slam shut behind Face. "I just hope he lets us after today."

* * *

><p>Hannibal paced back and forth in front of Face's bedroom door. Every couple of minutes he would put his hand on the doorknob, only to pull it off and start pacing again.<p>

He wanted to talk to Face and to apologize, but how does one say I'm sorry for accusing a person of something like that? There were no words…or at least not any that he could put together at the moment.

Hannibal finally decided to sleep on it…that is if he could actually sleep. In any case, he needed more time to think and Face probably needed some space. Hannibal put his hand on the door and whispered, "Good night, kid," before heading off to his own room.

Face could hear somebody walking back and forth out in the hallway. He could tell it was Hannibal by the pacing of the steps. He considered getting up off the bed and opening the door, but lacked the energy. Besides, what would be the point? It wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't change what had happened to him and it wouldn't change what the team thought of him.

Face's initial reaction was anger when he had been asked if he forced her to have sex. How dare they ask him that?

Anger quickly gave way to sadness and disappointment. Instead of 'how dare they ask him that', he was wondering how they could think he was even capable of such an act.

He'd be the first to admit he was a ladies' man and had seen his fair share of action over the years. That being said, he didn't sleep with every woman he dated and he certainly would never force anybody to do anything. After what he had experienced in Nam, he could never do to another human being what had been done to him. How could they not know that?

Face tried putting himself in their shoes; what would he think if he were one of the guys observing his recent behavior? If he had seen the scratches and bruises or the way he reacted at the store, what would he have concluded? Never in a million years would he have figured out the truth…so why should he expect his friends to have done so?

Face realized that Hannibal, Murdock and B.A. were only acting in response to the evidence before them. And while this didn't take all the hurt away, it helped bring it down to a bearable level.

Now all he had to do was get them to move on and forget that any of this ever happened. It wouldn't be easy but, after all, he was a con-man. And tomorrow morning would begin the toughest con of his life.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Face took a deep breath, put on a smile, and walked into the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?" he asked nonchalantly, taking a seat next to Murdock.

B.A. stood by the stove. He raised his eyebrows at Face not quite sure what was going on. "Um…eggs Benedict."

Even though his stomach was churning and he doubted he'd be able to keep anything down, Face tried to sound enthusiastic. "Sounds good to me."

Hannibal and Murdock traded uneasy glances. They had noticed the stiff way Face had entered the room, the pallor of his skin and the sweat glistening on his forehead. No smile or upbeat attitude could hide the fact that Face wasn't well.

Face reached for the business section of the paper. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Face, what are you doing?" Hannibal asked.

"I'm about to read the paper, what does it look like I'm doing." He lifted the paper up in front of him, allowing his smile to drop as his face was hidden from view.

Hannibal pushed the paper down with his hand before Face had a chance to fully get his trademark smile back on. "C'mon Face, don't you think we should talk."

"Listen, if it's about what happened yesterday, I owe you guys an apology. I should never have stormed off the way I did."

"You don't owe us anything," Murdock said. "We had no right accusing you of anything."

Face shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry about it. Now what should we do today?"

"Lieutenant!" Hannibal exclaimed. "We can't just forget about what you told us."

Face could feel his pressure rising. This wasn't going to be easy. "Why not? Look, I'm fine. Let's just move on with it."

Hannibal leaned forward in his chair and looked Face straight in the eye. "You were raped, Lieutenant."

"I'm well aware that I was…well…um…_that_," Face stuttered; he hated that word and couldn't bring himself to say it. "But, hey, it's not like it was the first time, right?" Face looked at the stunned faces gaping at him. 'Oh God…they didn't know.'

"What you mean that it wasn't the first time?" B.A. barked.

Face dabbed at his forehead with a napkin; the room was getting hotter and hotter. "Forget it. It's not important…it was years ago."

"How many years ago, Facey?" Murdock asked gently, though no answer was necessary. They knew he had to be talking about the camps.

Face hung his head and tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened. He thought things were bad before, but now they were horrendous. "I thought you all knew. How could you not know?" He felt their eyes on him and it made him feel naked and exposed.

Face moved to get up, but grabbed onto the table as the room began to tilt and he began seeing double. Hannibal was at his side instantly, grabbing his shoulders and easing him back into his chair. He felt the heat radiating from his body. "Jesus, kid, you're burning up."

"I'm fine," Face slurred, as his body slumped forward.

"Faceman, you need to get yourself a new definition of the word fine," B.A. mumbled, as he lifted the semiconscious man and carried him into the living room and laid him on the couch.

"B.A., get the van," Hannibal directed, "we need to get him to a doctor."

"No!" Face objected with as much strength as he could muster.

"Face, you're sick buddy. We just want to get you well."

"Murdock's right, Face. What about Maggie?"

"Especially not Maggie…I don't want her to see me like this. It's humiliating."

"You ain't got any reason to be embarrassed. You didn't do nothin' wrong."

'Except let a woman rape me,' he thought. 'Some man I am.'

Hannibal feared that if he pushed Face too much he would risk shutting him down completely. "Okay, we'll stay here, but you have to let me check you over." Face nodded his approval, but his eyes told another story.

Murdock and B.A. got all the medical supplies Hannibal would need, before excusing themselves. They could see that Face was uncomfortable enough with having the Colonel tend to his wounds; there was no need for an audience. Plus, they had seen all they needed to see the day before. And they hoped never to see anything like that again.

Hannibal opened up the first aid kit and braced himself for what he was about to do. "Now, you tell me if the pain gets to bad and you need me to stop." Again Face just nodded and then started to unbutton his shirt. Hannibal grimaced at the site, surprised by how much worse it looked up close than it had a day earlier by the lake. And though he was gentle as he could be while cleaning and dressing the infected abrasions, he knew how much it had to hurt.

Face kept his eyes on the ceiling and tried to focus on his breathing. Every once and a while the pain was so great that it would take his breath away and he would grip onto the couch cushion with all his might. And just when he thought he couldn't take anymore and he was about to ask for a breather, he felt Hannibal squeeze his arm.

"All done, kid." Hannibal could see that Face was sweating profusely and visibly trembling. He dipped a cloth in some cool water and placed it on the younger man's forehead. "You okay?"

Face smiled weakly in response, not trusting his voice at the moment. Was he okay? Not by a long shot.

"Just rest," Hannibal said as he began cleaning up the medical supplies. "I better go check that B.A. hasn't killed Murdock yet. If you need anything, just call." He wanted to say, 'I'm here for you if you want to talk', but knew that when it came to Face, he would have to wait until he opened the door…if ever.

Face waited for Hannibal to leave the room before grabbing a pillow, holding it over his face and screaming. He screamed for all the times he had been held down and forced against his will. He screamed for the humiliation he felt at having the team see him like this. He screamed until his lungs burned and his throat ached.

And then he did something he hadn't done in years: Templeton Peck cried.

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

Face spent much of the next week recovering in his bedroom. He didn't know how to act in front of the guys anymore. They looked at him with pity in their eyes…that is when they would look at him at all. He often would catch one of them looking at him, only to quickly look away when Face made eye contact.

There was an elephant in the room, and right now it was blocking Face from their view.

Face knew they were starting a new job in few days, and that if they were ever going to work as a team again, they had to remove the elephant.

"Hey guys, can we talk?" he asked, joining the others as they sat in the living room watching a game on TV.

"Sure Face," Murdock smiled, moving over on the couch to make room for Face.

"Did you guys really not know about what…um…what happened in Nam?"

Hannibal pulled a cigar out of his pocket out of habit. "We were separated a lot in the camps. We would see you after you were taken away for hours and knew you were beaten, but didn't know it went beyond that."

B.A. fidgeted nervously with the gold around his neck. "We probably should have realized, man. But I guess we just didn't want to see it."

Face nodded regretfully. "And I never ever talked about it. In fact, I just about managed to block it out of my mind until she came along."

Face hadn't planned on ever talking about what happened a few weeks earlier, but suddenly it just felt right. Father Maghill had always told him as a child that 'the truth would set you free'. He took a deep breath and started his journey towards that freedom.

"That night everything was fine. We had a great dinner and then she invited me back to her place. Then before I knew it she started tying my arms to the bed post." Face stopped and looked at his friends unsure if he should continue. When he saw nothing but support and concern in their eyes, he continued. "I tried to go along with it at first. But then as soon as she tied down my legs, I panicked. Bam…I flashed right back to Nam. I asked her to stop. I told her no. I'm not sure I even knew where I was anymore…but I was so scared. She kept hitting me and scratching me and then she…she…" He looked down and started wringing his hands together; he didn't want to say it out loud.

Murdock reached over and put his hand on Face's shoulder. "Just say it," he encouraged. After all the years of therapy he has endured, he was well aware that in order to move on, one had to first admit and accept their problems.

"She raped me," he whispered, and allowed Murdock to pull him into a hug. Hannibal and B.A. each took their turns embracing him and telling him how sorry they were for the past, the present, and for doubting him.

Once they had all settled back down, Hannibal looked at Face and said, "You know, we can postpone our next job a few more days if you'd like."

"Thanks, but no need. I'm fine," he replied to which B.A. snorted and Murdock shook his head in amusement. "Really, I'm fine."

"Somebody need to get you a dictionary, Faceman," B.A. teased. "So you can look up the meanin' of the word fine."

Face shrugged his shoulders and conceded, "I might not be fine right now." He forced a grin. "But I know I will be."

Hannibal put his arm around Face's shoulder. "I know you will too, son, but maybe you should talk to somebody about all of this."

"I am talking to somebody…I'm talking to all of you, aren't I?"

"That's not what I mean…"

"Look, I know what you mean," Face interrupted, "and I don't want…no, I don't need to talk to a shrink." Face stood up and started to pace. "I dealt with this stuff once before on my own, and I can do it again."

B.A. stepped in front of Face stopping him in his tracks. "You ain't gonna be on your own this time."

"Yeah, you got us muchacho. All four of us."

"Four, Murdock?" Hannibal questioned.

"You," Murdock pointed to Hannibal first, "me, the big guy, and Billy."

A genuine smile formed on Face's lips this time. "Thanks, guys." He sat back down in his chair and the others joined him.

"But if you ever do want to talk to a professional, I'm sure Murdock can help set that up."

"Sure can, colonel…because you know how I love it when a therapy session comes together."

"Oh no you just didn't," B.A. muttered.

Hannibal rolled his eyes. "Cute, captain, real cute."

Face relaxed amongst the comfort of the familiar banter. He didn't know what the future held; perhaps at some point he would be ready to seek some help. For now, however, he chose move ahead and not look back.

Was that the right thing to do? Would it come back to haunt him later on? Face didn't have the answers to those questions. But he did have the guys and they had a new case…for the moment that was enough.

The End (for now at least…considering a sequel)


End file.
